London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 03, 2026

Twitter posts surprising drop in revenue

Twitter posts surprising drop in revenue

Twitter reported a quarterly loss Friday and declining revenue caught Wall Street off guard with the number of people using the platform on the rise.
The latest quarterly earnings figures offered a glimpse into how the social media platform has performed during a months-long negotiation with billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk after he said that he would buy the company, and then changed his mind.

It was worse than industry analysts had anticipated, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

The company lost $270 million in the April-June period, or 8 cents per share. Wall Street was expecting a per-share profit of 14 cents, according to a poll by FactSet.

Inflation has crimped advertising spending and that was a huge drag on Twitter’s quarterly revenue, which slid 1% to $1.18 billion. The company also cited “uncertainty” over the acquisition by Musk.

Twitter is holding no calls with analysts and will not publish a letter to shareholders, as is the norm, because of the pending acquisition.

The underlying numbers at Twitter, however, were good. The number of daily active users rose 16.6% to 237.8 million compared with the same period a year before.

Those numbers are particularly impressive in the wake of a quarterly earnings report late Thursday from the social media company Snap.

Snap also saw advertising tumble in the high-inflationary environment and shares plunged more than 30% Friday before the opening bell.

“When compared to the nightmare quarter of SNAP last night, it shows digital ad spending is not falling off a cliff like feared which is a positive for others in the space such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Google,” wrote Dan Ives, who covers technology for Wedbush.

Shares of Twitter Inc. rose 1% at the opening bell Friday as the clash with Musk overshadowed almost everything. Twitter is attempting to force Musk to make good on his April promise to buy the company for $44 billion. Twitter last week sued Musk to complete the deal and both sides are bracing for an October courtroom trial to resolve the dispute.

The April-June fiscal quarter encompassed a tumultuous three months for Twitter, starting with the April 4 disclosure that Musk had acquired a huge stake in the company, paving the way for his takeover bid later that month. It didn’t take long for the relationship to fray as Musk publicly tweeted his concerns about Twitter and its employees and signaled he was having second thoughts.

Twitter argued in court that Musk’s actions and his “repeated disparagement of Twitter and its personnel” created uncertainty that harmed Twitter’s business operations, employees and stock price.

It called for an expedited trial so the company could carry on with important business decisions, while Musk sought to wait until next year because of the complexity of the case and his demands for more of Twitter’s internal data about how it counts fake and automated “spam bot” accounts — which he’s cited as a chief reason for trying to terminate the deal.

A judge this week set the trial for October, siding with Twitter’s concerns that too much delay could cause the company irreparable harm. It will be held in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, which handles many high-profile business disputes, unless Musk and Twitter settle the case before then.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Church of England to Apologize for Role in Historical Forced Adoptions
UK Defence Ministry Investigates Historical Use of RAF Bases by Jeffrey Epstein
Scottish Housing Completions Fall to 11-Year Low
Welsh First Minister Calls for Expanded Devolution Settlement
UK Pledges £50 Million to Expand Domestic Military Drone Capabilities
UK Opens First Commercial Geothermal Plant in Cornwall
Green Party Wins Gorton and Denton By-Election as Labour Falls to Third
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Opens Review of UK-EU Relationship
UK Inflation Rises to 3.1%, Adding Pressure on Household Finances
UK Removes VAT From Domestic Electricity Bills to Ease Winter Energy Costs
Counterterrorism Police Arrest Sixth Suspect Over RAF Fairford Incident
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Chancellor John Healey Faces Tax and Pension Scrutiny Ahead of Autumn Budget
Metropolitan Police Apologise for Accidental Disclosure in High-Profile Investigation
UK Universities Report Record International Enrolment as Housing Pressure Grows
UK Logistics Firms Monitor Rhine Disruption as Low Water Threatens European Supply Chains
UK Food Industry Warns Inflation Could Approach 7%
UK Introduces Vaping Duty and Mandatory Retail Stamps
Scotland Raises Property Taxes and Expands Child Payment in Annual Budget
Greggs Plans Four Factory Closures With 740 Jobs at Risk
OECD Raises UK 2026 Growth Forecast to 1.1%
UK Inflation Rises to 3.1% as Bank of England Faces Rate Debate
Andy Burnham Criticises Brexit and Says Rejoining EU Single Market Remains an Option
UK Imposes New Sanctions on Russian Military Networks and Propagandists
UK Launches Nationwide Early-Release Prison Scheme
Andy Burnham Says Security Services See Signs of Iranian Involvement in RAF Fairford Incident
Manchester City Found Guilty on Premier League Financial Charges After Independent Investigation
Scottish Court to Rule on Bid to Force No-Confidence Vote Against Aberdeen Council Co-Leader
UK Bans Extra Charges for Seating Children Under 12 Beside Accompanying Adults
UK Introduces Vaping Duty and New Licensing Requirements
Greggs to Close Four UK Factories and Cut 740 Jobs
Hundreds of Prisoners Released Early as England and Wales Prisons Reach 98% Capacity
UK Unveils New Russia Sanctions Targeting War Funding and Shadow Fleet
Burnham Says There Are Strong Indications of Iranian Involvement in RAF Fairford Security Breach
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Raises Prospect of Reviewing Britain's Post-Brexit EU Relationship
Markets Price in Bank of England Rate Increases as Inflation Rises to 3.1%
UK Borrowing Costs Climb Toward 5.5% as Global Bond Sell-Off Intensifies
UK-France One-In-One-Out Migration Agreement Expires as London Seeks Alternative Measures
Southwest England Faces Flood Alerts After Heavy Autumn Storms
UK Expands Funding for Rapid Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Welsh Government Approves Funding to Upgrade South Wales Transport
Northern Ireland Tensions Rise as Orange Order Rejects Drumcree Compromise
NHS Leaders Back Early Design of Proposed National Care Service
More Than One-Third of Regional UK Universities Face Financial Deficits
UK Current Account Deficit Narrows as Cross-Border Financial Flows Remain Strong
Bank of England and FCA Issue New Rules for Stablecoins and Digital Assets
MI5 Warns UK Universities Over Research Links With Chinese Institutions
UK Energy Price Cap Rises 4% as Electricity VAT Is Temporarily Suspended
Equity Calls for UK Personality Rights to Protect Performers From AI Replication
OpenAI Pauses Advanced Model Training Following Safety Concerns
×